Under the shadow of the very large inflatable blue whale the youngsters got to see what krill looks like and touch a large sample of blue whale baleen. “When you show just how big blue whales are and explain they are the largest living creature on earth, bigger than any dinasour, the kids eyes light up and they want to know more and more about them. We are lucky to have the large inflateable blue whale to give some idea of size. This year I used rope to outline just how big a blue whale tongue is” said Dr. Gill.

The children also learnt why the blue whales visit the ocean off Portland coastline and what they are doing there. “It is important that local children know about their own environment and in particular the marine environment as it has always been part of our history and prosperity. I hope that I can inspire our young budding marine scientists to take up an interest in the blue whales and our marine envionment” said Dr. Gill.

The topic of illegal Soviet whaling impacts on bue whales became a popular topic during the Upwelling Festival. Dr. Peter Gill, Senior Research Scientist from Blue Whale Study, started the day with an early morning ABC radio interivew. Dr. Gill spoke of about the devastating secret whaling program carried out by the Soviet Union between 1947-1972. Using the largest whaling fleets ever assembled, the Soviets combed the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of whales while declaring greatly reduced numbers caught and sometimes just a a handful.

Photos supplied by Yuila Ivashchenko

Dr. Gill also gave a presentation at the Portland Arts Centre as part of the Upwelling Festival marine environment talks. The presentation was attended by approximately 50 people who heard of they killed thousands of protected blue whales, some of them not far to the south of Portland, and all but wiped out the humpback whales that migrated up Australia’s east and west coasts. “Humpbacks have now recovered strongly from whaling, but blue whales are still endangered and showing few signs of recovery” said Dr Gill.

The presentation also included slides of how the whales where hunted and captured by the whalers. “When you see the photos of what was going on it was quite shocking. We now have such low numbers of blue whales and as a result are listed as Endangered by the Australia Federal Government. It is imperative Blue Whale Study conducts surveys, both aerial and ocean based, to ensure we gather data every Upwelling season. The information we gather builds a picture of their movements and feeding habits in the Bonney Upwelling region just off the coast of Portland”, said Dr. Gill.

Bayview College Marine Science students were recently enlightened on the ecology of the blue whale and the Bonney Upwelling phenomenon. Dr. Peter Gill, Senior Research Scientist with Blue Whale Study presented to thirty Year 11 students who were keen to find out as much as they could about the largest living creature on earth.

“It is inspirational to provide local students with blue whale facts and scientific research data. The students had a lot of questions which helps with their learning on the visits by blue whales to this area”, said Dr. Gill. “Sharing our knowledge with the local community is a really important part of our work. We don’t work in an ivory tower, the more people that know about our work, the blue whales and their amazing upwelling habitat the better. Especially young people who will soon have a say in the future of our marine environment.”

Stacy Thomas, Science Teacher from Bayview College said “Hearing about blue whales is fascinating and learning about the Upwelling and the plight of the Blue Whale from specialist Dr Gill is the best way to learn as students relate to the content. We are very lucky to have Dr Gill living in our area and benefit from his expertise especially during the week of the Upwelling Festival. Marine Science at Bayview is all about marine science concepts taught in a Portland context”.

One lucky student from Bayview College Marine Science class has been given the opportunity to participate in the Blue Whale Study Marine Youth Science Program. “This program is aimed at giving 4 local students an experience of a lifetime. The students go to sea in our research vessel, Bonney Blue, and learn what it is to be safe at sea and how marine science research is conducted and recorded. The program will run for 6 days and commences in February 2017” said Dr. Gill.

The Australian Geographic magazine has raised just over $9,000 for Blue Whale Study research. The funds were raised by the Australian Geographic Society via their website and also a gold coin donation at each of the 65 Australian Geographic retail stores around Australia. The funds raised were split between Centre for Whale Research (W.A.) and Blue Whale Study.

“To receive this level of support and recognition, at a national level, is outstanding. It just goes to show how precious Blue Whales are to the broader community and how we must never give up our effort to continue our research and secure long term conservation of the species”, said Dr. Peter Gill CEO and Senior Research Scientist of Blue Whale Study.

Dr Pete Gill (right) with Andrew Levings and Maria Garcia, about to head off on an aerial survey through the 2015-2106 whale season.

Australian Geographic Society works to protect endangered species and the July/August 2016 edition of Australian Geographic magazine provided an in-depth article on blue whales and launched the fundraising campaign under the banner ‘Big Blue Needs You’. In addition the magazine contained a Whale Poster which was drawn by local artist Brett Jarrett. “How often does it happen that the artist and researchers in the same article only live a few miles apart? We are fortunate to have this synergy in our area and thanks to Australian Geographic for bringing us together”, said Dr. Gill.

The funds raised shall be allocated to the 2016/17 blue whale season which commences in October/November this year. “We have funding to conduct one aerial survey however ideally we should conduct 2 or 3 each season. With the Australian Geographic Society funds we are now in a position to conduct a second aerial survey which is critical in our efforts to identify individual blue whales and to report on the seasonal variations and monitor blue whale movements in the Bonney Upwelling area”.

The Blue Whale Study team are elated that the first Blue Whale Study e-newsletter has finally been launched. “It has taken over 12 months to get to the point where we sent out our first e-newsletter earlier this month” said Dr. Peter Gill, Senior Research Scientist with Blue Whale Study.

The e-newsletter is compiled by the team based at Tyrendarra and then sent to graphic artist Nicole Stewart for formatting and editing before being sent out to subscribers via MailChimp.“MailChimp is a platform which is perfect for our small organisation, it provided us with the ability to easily manage subscribers and provide links to the newsletter through other social media outlets” said Dr. Gill.

There are to be 4 editions each year based on the seasons.The Winter Blues Newsletter has a dozen short articles with links to the Blue Whale Study website where more information is provided.Updates on field projects, educational activities and news stories are summarised in the newsletter.

“Communicating with our supporters is a challenge given the small workforce we have available.The newsletter is a great way to achieve this and as it is a quarterly edition we have the time and capacity to work on articles as they happen and make ready for the next edition”, said Dr. Gill.

The next edition will be available in November.“We have had 21 new subscribers register for the newsletter since the launch and we would love to see more subscribers join us. It’s as easy as heading to our website (bluewhalestudy.org.au) and entering your details in the ‘Subscribe to Blue News’ box on the home page.”

Blue Whale Study is dedicated to helping us gain a better understanding of what blue whales do when they visit their SW Victorian feeding grounds in summer.

Most people know that the environment is important and would like to do more to ensure it is preserved for future generations.

Blue Whale Study is ideally suited to help with this as all donations are tax deductible which provides a win win for donors and the environment.Blue Whale Study is striving to continue vital research on the local Endangered blue whales and their habitat, and also to continue our involvement in numerous community activities which contribute to local knowledge on the significant marine phenomenon, the Bonney Upwelling.

“We need to continue our research in the Bonney Upwelling which apart from being globally significant whale habitat, also provides vital resources for the local fishing industry.Also, our Marine Science Youth Mentoring Program is very popular with local schools and we can only run such programs with the help of grants and/or donations from the community’, said Dr. Peter Gill, Senior Research Scientist with Blue Whale Study.‘The local community benefit greatly in having a program for youth whereby they are exposed to a unique hands on marine science research experience.’.

With the end of financial year looming it is an ideal time for people to make a tax deductible donation.‘Donations of any size are welcome.We use 17.55% of income on employees and around 6% on outsourcing accounting services such as BAS and annual auditing.All the rest is used for projects and activities therefore we rely heavily on many volunteer hours to ensure we continue’ said Dr. Gill.‘We could do so much more if the budget allowed it as we are in a great position to provide projects and programs which not only benefit blue whales but also the local community.’

Donations are tax deductible and suit individuals and businesses or any organisation wishing to reduce their taxable income.‘There are very few environment organisations granted DGR status by the Tax Office. We are one of the lucky ones and we are locally based.We spend locally, employ locally and do our work locally’ said Ms. Louise Sheba, Blue Whale Study Research Committee member.‘We are so grateful for donations and details of how to donate are on our website www.bluewhalestudy.org under the support BWS tab.’

It was with great excitement the team from Blue Whale Study received news they had been successful in securing funding for the Marine Science Youth Mentoring Program which aims to mentor young science students in marine research.

With thanks to funding from the Isobel and David Jones Foundation (facilitated by South West Community Foundation) the program is set to continue for the 2016/17 blue whale season.

‘This is a terrific start to our fundraising for this program.We have been running the program for three years but unfortunately could not run it this year as funding dried up.It is a great boost to have the program up and running again and we shall be making it a priority to secure the remaining funds required to make the program a total success.’ said Dr. Gill.

‘We thank both the South West Community Foundation and the Isobel and David Jones Foundation whose support is a greatly appreciated. The Researching the Blues program is based in Portland and students will be taken out to sea to learn about marine science research, seamanship skills and blue whales.’

South West Community Foundation Executive Officer, Karen Norris, indicated delight that the Foundation could faciltiate this funding.“The Foundation supported 42 projects in our annualgranting round with a great diversity of projects including the Blue Whale Study”.

Blue Whales are listed as Endangered and the Blue Whale Study, based in Victoria, is a charitable organisation led by Dr. Peter Gill, dedicated to the research and conservation of these elusive creatures.The mentoring program is a very popular activity for students and involves teachers, students, parents, friends and broader community.‘This is an important community engagement activity to inform people of the blue whales which visit our region annually’.

A group of 30 environment volunteers were recently provided a presentation by Dr. Peter Gill on the wonders of Blue Whales and the Bonney Upwelling. The event occurred during Volunteer Week (13 May 2016) in Robe, South Australia.

The presentation was part of the South-East Safari event which celebrated the efforts of South Australian environment volunteers.‘The group enjoyed hearing about blue whales and the Bonney Upwelling phenomenon.These volunteers have been recognised for their tremendous efforts in working on coastal environment projects and had 3 days of touring, discussion, presentations and site visits’ said Dr. Gill.

It highlights the importance of ensuring that the community education program of Blue Whale Study continues.‘It is always with pleasure that I receive invitations to attend events which provide opportunities to present information on blue whales and the Bonney Upwelling to new audiences.It is one of our core business activities and whilst it involved a bit of travelling we do work in South Australia so it is most appropriate we visit there and talk to people about the work of the Blue Whale Study and our goal of long-term blue whale conservation.’